Ground support equipment for the WISE spacecraft will arrive at Vandenberg on Monday, Aug. 10. It will go to the Astrotech payload processing facility located on north Vandenberg. WISE is scheduled to arrive on Aug. 15 to begin processing for launch.

WISE will survey the entire sky in the mid-infrared with far greater sensitivity than any previous mission ever has. The WISE survey will capture over a million images, from which hundreds of millions of astronomical objects will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the Solar System, the Milky Way, and the Universe.

WISE is scheduled to blast into space in December, aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from NASA's Space Launch Complex 2. Orbiting around Earth, it will scan the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, unveiling hundreds of thousands of asteroids, and hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies.

The spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg along the central California coast today, after a winding journey via truck from Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation in Boulder, Colo. Ball built the mission's spacecraft; its telescope and science instrument were built by Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah.

"WISE has arrived and is almost ready to go," said William Irace, the mission's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "After we check the spacecraft out and fill the telescope cooling tanks with solid hydrogen, we'll mate it to the rocket and launch."

WISE is an infrared space telescope like two currently orbiting missions, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation. But, unlike these missions, WISE will survey the entire sky. It is designed to cast a wide net to catch all sorts of unseen cosmic treasures. Millions of images from the survey will serve as rough maps for other observatories, such as Spitzer and NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, guiding them to intriguing targets.

"WISE will survey the cosmic landscape in the infrared so that future telescopes can home in on the most interesting 'properties,'" said Edward Wright, the principal investigator for the mission at UCLA.

The infrared surveyor will pick up the heat from a cornucopia of objects, both near and far. It will find hundreds of thousands of new asteroids in our main asteroid belt, and hundreds of near-Earth objects, which are comets and asteroids with orbits that pass relatively close to Earth. The mission will uncover the coldest stars, called brown dwarfs, perhaps even one closer to us than our closest known neighbor, Proxima Centauri, which is 4 light-years away. More distant finds will include nurseries of stars, swirling planet-building disks and the universe's most luminous galaxies billions of light-years away.

The data will help answer fundamental questions about how solar systems and galaxies form, and will provide the astronomical community with mountains of data to mine.

"WISE will create a legacy that endures for decades," said Peter Eisenhardt, the mission's project scientist at JPL. "Today, we still refer to the catalogue of our predecessor, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, which operated in 1983."

The Infrared Astronomical Satellite was a joint infrared survey mission between NASA, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. WISE's survey, thanks to next-generation technology, will be hundreds of times more sensitive.

The mission will scan the sky from a sun-synchronous orbit, 500 kilometers (about 311 miles) above Earth. After a one-month checkout period, it will map the whole sky over a period of six months. Onboard frozen hydrogen, which will cool the infrared detectors, is expected to last several months longer, allowing WISE to map much of the sky a second time and see what has changed.

JPL manages the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The mission's principal investigator, Edward Wright, is at UCLA. The mission was competitively selected under NASA's Explorers Program managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Logan, Utah, and the spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. Science operations and data processing will take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for government oversight of the Delta II and launch countdown management.

Ground support equipment for the WISE spacecraft arrived at Vandenbergon Aug. 10 and will be processed in the Astrotech payload processingfacility located on north Vandenberg. WISE arrived on Aug. 14 and wasoffloaded and lifted out of its transportation canister on Saturday.

This week, the spacecraft is scheduled to be transferred to a workstand to begin processing for launch.

WISE will survey the entire sky in the mid-infrared with far greatersensitivity than any previous mission ever has. The WISE survey willcapture over a million images, from which hundreds of millions ofastronomical objects will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouseof knowledge about the Solar System, the Milky Way, and the Universe.

"WISE has arrived and is almost ready to go," said William Irace, the mission's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "After we check the spacecraft out and fill the telescope cooling tanks with solid hydrogen, we'll mate it to the rocket and launch."

This is really a geek question and I am not really expecting a reply unless there are any WISE managers/engineers/technicians reading this forum.

How is the cryostat loaded with solid hydrogen? I am anticipating that this is done by loading the tank with liquid hydrogen, which boils at 20.3K, followed by pumping away of the gaseous hydrogen above the liquid to cool the remaining hydrogen to solid state at 14K (atmospheric).

How soon does this have to happen before the payload is installed on the Delta II? I'm guessing that heat load prior to launch may be quite important, or is the insulation on the cryostat good enough that this is not critical?

How is the cryostat loaded with solid hydrogen? I am anticipating that this is done by loading the tank with liquid hydrogen, which boils at 20.3K, followed by pumping away of the gaseous hydrogen above the liquid to cool the remaining hydrogen to solid state at 14K (atmospheric).

How soon does this have to happen before the payload is installed on the Delta II? I'm guessing that heat load prior to launch may be quite important, or is the insulation on the cryostat good enough that this is not critical?

I believe Liquid Helium is involved. It will take a few weeks and it is off the pad.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, WISE has been transferred to a work stand to begin processing for launch. The batteries are currently being charged in preparation for the start of spacecraft functional testing on Aug. 24. The testing will require approximately ten days.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, WISE has been transferred to a work stand to begin processing for launch. Battery conditioning, spacecraft cleaning and post-ship functional testing were completed on Aug. 25. The spacecraft functional testing began on Aug. 24 and is expected to be complete in approximately seven days.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, the WISE spacecraft functional testing was successfully completed early this week as planned. Simulated launch pad operations tests were performed on Sept. 1. These are functional tests associated with launch day spacecraft flight system power on and final configuration for launch. All were successfully completed.

Build-up of the Delta II at Space Launch Complex 2 is scheduled to begin on Oct. 19 with hoisting of the first stage into the launcher.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, the WISE spacecraft functional testing is complete. This week no work was scheduled to allow for crew crest after the longer work days required to support the ten days of spacecraft functional testing. Processing will resume next week.

Vandenberg Air Force Base experienced the effects of a 3.9 magnitude (light) earthquake at 4:22 a.m. PDT on Sept. 10. The epicenter was offshore in the Pacific Ocean approximately 9 miles west of Lompoc. WISE personnel performed an inspection of the spacecraft and no anomalies were noted. Also, nothing unusual was found after an inspection of the Astrotech payload processing facility.

Build-up of the Delta II at Space Launch Complex 2 is scheduled to begin on Oct. 19 with hoisting of the first stage into the launcher.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, WISE spacecraft testing continues. This week the Mission Sequence Test and Operational Readiness Test are under way and will conclude next week.

Build-up of the Delta II at Space Launch Complex 2 is scheduled to begin on Oct. 19 with hoisting of the first stage into the launcher.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, WISE spacecraft processing is going well and continues on schedule. The spacecraft instrument closeouts are under way. The spacecraft launch initiation test is complete. The spacecraft has also been weighed and mated to the payload attach fitting. A contamination inspection and cleaning is being performed.

Build-up of the Delta II at Space Launch Complex 2 is scheduled to begin on Oct. 19 with hoisting of the first stage into the launcher.

A brush fire has been under way near the Vandenberg main gate but has not had a significant impact on activities at NASA's Space Launch Complex 2 or on payload processing. The fire has been contained and is now burning only at a low level.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, WISE spacecraft testing is complete. Work now is beginning to prepare the spacecraft for loading of the cryogenic hydrogen which will be used to supercool the infrared telescope during its six months of observations.

Build-up of the Delta II rocket at Space Launch Complex 2 is scheduled to begin on Oct. 16 with hoisting of the first stage into the launcher.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, work has been under way this week to set up the necessary ground support equipment for loading of the cryogenic hydrogen which will be used to supercool the infrared telescope during its six months of observations. The vacuum pumpdown of the spacecraft is now under way and will be followed by testing at cryogenic temperatures. This will be followed by two weeks of activity to load and then freeze the cryogenic hydrogen.

Build-up of the Delta II rocket at Space Launch Complex 2 now is scheduled to begin next week with hoisting of the first stage into the launcher on Monday. The three solid rocket boosters will then be attached on Oct. 21, and the second stage will be hoisted atop the first stage on Oct. 22.

Build-up of the Delta II rocket at Space Launch Complex 2 was completed last week as planned. Testing was conducted this week on the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite transmitter that will be tested on this Delta II for possible use on future missions.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, work has been completed to test the spacecraftâ?Ts sensors at cryogenic temperatures. Work is now under way to load and then freeze the cryogenic hydrogen. This will be used to supercool the infrared telescope during its six months of observations. This work requires approximately two weeks and will be followed by one final week of spacecraft testing.

Testing has been conducted successfully on the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite transmitter that will be used on the rocket. It will relay vehicle data to the ground during the launch and will be evaluated for possible use on future Delta II missions from Vandenberg. Second stage propellant system qualification testing has been completed. Three days of guidance and control system checks are currently under way. The Delta II flight simulation is currently scheduled for Nov. 11. The first stage will be loaded with liquid oxygen on Nov. 12 for leak checks and associated testing.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, work continues to load and then freeze the cryogenic hydrogen. This activity is approximately 60 percent complete and will continue for about another week. This will be used to supercool the infrared telescope during its six months of observations. There then will be one final week of spacecraft testing before work begins to prepare WISE to move to the launch pad for integration with the Delta II.

WASHINGTON - NASA will hold a media briefing on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at noon EST, to discuss the upcoming launch of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, mission. WISE is scheduled to launch Dec. 7, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Once in Earth orbit, WISE will scan the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, unveiling hundreds of thousands of asteroids and hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies.

The briefing will take place in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. S.W., in Washington. NASA TV will broadcast the briefing on the NASA Education Channel.

Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations, including NASA's Kennedy Space Center, or by phone. To reserve a phone line, journalists should send an e-mail listing name, media affiliation, and telephone number to: